[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 5 (Monday, January 31, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E37-E38]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO PHIL BLAZER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 31, 2000

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues Mr. Berman and Mr. Sherman, 
and I rise today to ask our colleagues to join us in honoring the 
extraordinary career of our dear friend Phil Blazer. Phil has dedicated 
his thirty-five-year career to serving the Jewish community as editor 
and publisher of the Jewish News and as an effective activist for 
important Jewish and human rights causes. Phil began his career as an 
eager and wide-eyed seventeen-year-old radio announcer at KVFM in the 
San Fernando Valley of California. He moved to Minnesota for college 
and continued his radio career at KUXL, and quickly began a Jewish 
community radio program for Minneapolis and St. Paul. After college, he 
retuned to KVFM as station manager and continued his Jewish community 
program in the San Fernando Valley. Phil's current radio program is now 
on KIEV and is heard throughout Southern California. He has many 
devoted listeners who depend on his program for news, perspective, and 
insight.
  In 1977, Phil started a television program, which still airs today 
and is now carried in over 300 communities in Southern California. It 
is also broadcast in New York City and New Jersey on Sundays. His 
audience numbers over 250,000 people and he has become an icon to his 
audiences throughout the nation.
  Perhaps Phil's greatest contribution has been his newspaper, The 
Jewish News, which he founded in 1973. Hardly a local paper, it now 
serves 73 countries worldwide. The Jewish News serves to connect 
distinct Jewish communities by sharing local, national and 
international news and trends. It is a beloved paper and a staple of 
Los Angeles Jewish life.
  Phil's career has also been dedicated to human rights work and Jewish 
causes. He is a visionary leader who has worked to shape critical 
historical events. In 1973, he helped smuggle a Torah into Leningrad to 
support the Jews of Russia. In 1978, he traveled to Washington, D.C. at 
the invitation of former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to confer with 
the State Department and the White House as a participant in the 
redirection of U.S. Middle East policy.
  Also in 1978, Phil attended the historic Begin/Sadat meeting in 
Jerusalem. The following year he aired a landmark broadcast of his 
radio program via satellite from the studios of Radio Cairo as the 
guest of Anwar Sadat.
  Phil's philanthropic work continued in 1985 when he organized the now 
famous Operation Joshua, which succeeded in rescuing nearly 1,000 
Ethiopian Jews from refugee camps in Sudan and resettling them in 
Israel. In 1992, Phil developed California legislation with Assemblyman 
Richard Katz that mandated a course of study about the Holocaust be 
taught in all California public schools. This bill was signed into law 
by the Governor of California on September 21, 1992.
  These are a few examples of Phil's tireless dedication to Jewish 
causes and human rights around the world. His real gift, however, is 
his compassion and love for humankind. While successfully building his 
own media empire, Phil has never lost sight of his commitment to better 
the human condition in every way possible. He is truly an example of 
one person making a difference in thousands of people's lives.
  Mr. Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in honoring Phil Blazer 
for his remarkable accomplishments over the past thirty-five years and 
in wishing him continued success and happiness in all future endeavors.

[[Page E38]]

                       SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February 
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized 
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees, 
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This 
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate 
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules committee--of the time, place, 
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or 
changes in the meetings as they occur.
  As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this 
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this 
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the 
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
  Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, February 1, 2000 may be found in the 
Daily Digest of today's Record.

                           MEETINGS SCHEDULED

                               FEBRUARY 2
     9:30 a.m.
       Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
       Public Health Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine gene therapy, focusing on 
           promoting patient safety.
                                                            SD-430
       Armed Services
         To hold hearings on the situation in Bosnia and Kosovo; 
           to be followed by a closed hearing (SR-222).
                                                            SR-253
     10 a.m.
       Budget
         To hold hearings to examine federalism in the information 
           age, focusing on internet tax issues.
                                                            SD-608
       Finance
         To hold hearings on the status of Internal Revenue 
           Service reform.
                                                            SD-215
       Intelligence
         To hold hearings to examine world threats.
                                                            SH-216
     2 p.m.
       Intelligence
         To hold closed hearings on pending intelligence matters.
                                                            SH-219

                               FEBRUARY 3
     9 a.m.
       Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
         To hold hearings to examine the proposed loan guarantee 
           program, focusing on rural satellite and cable system 
           delivery of local broadcast stations to viewers not 
           having access to local television stations.
                                                           SR-328A
     9:30 a.m.
       Armed Services
         To hold hearings on current and future worldwide threats 
           to the national security of the United States; followed 
           by a closed hearing (SH-219).
                                                            SH-216
     10 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Transportation Subcommittee
       Budget
         To hold joint hearings to examine modernizing the Federal 
           Aviation Administration.
                                                            SD-608
       Environment and Public Works
         To hold hearings on the nomination of Eric D. Eberhard, 
           of Washington, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees 
           of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship & Excellence in 
           National Environmental Policy Foundation; and the 
           nomination of W. Michael McCabe, of Pennsylvania, to be 
           Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
           Agency.
                                                            SD-406
       Finance
         To hold hearings on the nomination of George L. Farr, of 
           Connecticut, to be a Member of the Internal Revenue 
           Service Oversight Board; the nomination of Charles L. 
           Kolbe, of Iowa, to be a Member of the Internal Revenue 
           Service Oversight Board; the nomination of Nancy 
           Killefer, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member 
           of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board; the 
           nomination of Larry L. Levitan, of Maryland, to be a 
           Member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board; 
           the nomination of Steve H. Nickles, of North Carolina, 
           to be a Member of the Internal Revenue Service 
           Oversight Board; the nomination of Robert M. Tobias, of 
           Maryland, to be a Member of the Internal Revenue 
           Service Oversight Board; and the nomination of Karen 
           Hastie Williams, of the District of Columbia, to be a 
           Member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board.
                                                            SD-215
     2 p.m.
       Judiciary
       Criminal Justice Oversight Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine the Report of the Commission 
           on the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement 
           Commission Members.
                                                            SD-226
       Intelligence
         To hold closed hearings on pending intelligence matters.
                                                            SH-219

                               FEBRUARY 8
     10 a.m.
       Budget
         To hold hearings on the President's proposed budget 
           request for fiscal year 2001.
                                                            SD-608
       Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
         To hold hearings on S. 1879, to promote international 
           monetary stability and to share seigniorage with 
           officially dollarized countries.
                                                            SD-628

                               FEBRUARY 9
     9:30 a.m.
       Governmental Affairs
         To hold hearings to examine the rising cost of college 
           tuition and the effectiveness of the Federal financial 
           aid.
                                                            SD-342
     10 a.m.
       Budget
         To continue hearings on the President's proposed budget 
           request for fiscal year 2001.
                                                            SD-608
     10:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
       Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and Tourism 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for the Federal Trade Commission.
                                                            SR-253

                              FEBRUARY 10
     10 a.m.
       Governmental Affairs
         To continue hearings to examine the rising cost of 
           college tuition and the effectiveness of the Federal 
           financial aid.
                                                            SD-342

                              FEBRUARY 11
     10 a.m.
       Budget
         To resume hearings on the President's proposed budget 
           request for fiscal year 2001.
                                                            SD-608